


Claws

by SquigglyAverageJoe



Series: It’s a perfectlyspookymonthfortheseprompts [3]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:14:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26844976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquigglyAverageJoe/pseuds/SquigglyAverageJoe
Summary: It was not a rarity for Vio to find Shadow, sitting by the window, facing the glass and staring out—it was actually the opposite.But his boyfriend was not doing so much as glancing at the stars or the moon or the horizon the sun disappeared beneath. His gaze was on his hands.(So this became a mix of the two prompts for the seventh and the fifth, which was, respectively, claws and nightmare. I kept the title claws, though, because—that happened.)
Relationships: Shadow Link/Vio Link
Series: It’s a perfectlyspookymonthfortheseprompts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951999
Comments: 5
Kudos: 49





	Claws

Vio shut the door quietly, certain Shadow was already asleep in their shared room—he wouldn’t want to wake him.

“Shadow?” He whispered quietly—if Shadow had heard him open and shut the door to enter, he would have heard him say his name.

There was no response. Vio took a step closer to the bed in the middle of the room, but he realized there was no one in it. Frowning, Vio stepped closer—and then noticed that the shadow by the window was actually Shadow.

He stilled, any sort of worry disappearing. His boyfriend was fine.

It was not a rarity for Vio to find Shadow, sitting by the window, facing the glass and staring out—it was actually the opposite.

But his boyfriend was not doing so much as glancing at the stars or the moon or the horizon the sun disappeared beneath. His gaze was on his hands. He kept rubbing his palm, staring at his nails.

”Shadow?” He spoke a bit louder—and Shadow looked up at him, tearing his gaze from his palms to him. “Hey, I didn’t think you were still up.”

He took a step closer, sat by him at the window. “Couldn’t sleep,” he responded.

Normally, when Shadow was sitting at the window this late, Vio would join him, hold his hand, kiss his forehead—but he knew by the look in Shadow’s eyes, he was thinking intensely about something he probably wouldn’t appreciate getting into. Vio almost tried to bring it up, but he settled for asking, “Are you okay?” Shadow squirmed, murmured a quiet, _yeah._ “Do you want to talk about it?”

”It’s fine,” Shadow told him—it was a lie. Shadow didn’t lie often, so it always made his lies really jut out to Vio. Normally, when he asked him if he was okay, Shadow would respond honestly. If he was, then good, Vio wasn’t worried. If he wasn’t, Vio usually helped with whatever the problem was, would comfort him or do something—but Shadow wasn’t even looking at him, his voice hollow and empty.

He didn’t want to press on—if Shadow wanted to tell him, he would and it wouldn’t do either of them any good to press the matter further. He leaned over and kissed Shadow’s cheek—his blank expression didn’t change a bit. “Love you,” Vio said. “I’m gonna lay down, okay?”

Shadow gave him a nod in response.

Vio all but collapsed into bed. It was late and he was tired. He rubbed at his eyes, adjusted his pillow and brought the covers up to his chest. In a few moments, Shadow was next to him, burrowed in his blanket, pressed against his side. Vio felt himself smile. “Night.”

Shadow usually nestled close to Vio during the night—but this was closer than usual. Their legs were tangled. Shadow’s face was buried in his chest and he was grabbing onto one of Vio’s arms like a lifeline.

That was what woke him. “Shadow,” he murmured. “You’re digging your nails into my arm, love.”

He didn’t stir. He must have been sleeping really deeply. Vio sighed and tried to adjust without disrupting Shadow’s sleep. He tried to pull his arm out of Shadow’s grip, but decided it wasn’t _that_ uncomfortable and made do, wrapping an arm around Shadow’s torso. It was about dawn when he did stir, eyes bleary and watery.

“Morning, love.” It was barely morning.

Shadow let go of Vio’s arm and sat up. There was a small amount of blood—and Shadow looked guilty. “Sorry, I didn’t...”

”Don’t worry about it.” He kept his tone even. Vio sat up with him. “It’s fine.” He reached over and grabbed Shadow’s hands. “Your nails are getting kind of long though.”

”Yeah, they do that.”

Shadow might’ve been trying to get out of bed, put on his clothes, but Vio stopped him, grabbing onto his hand. “What about you and me stay in bed for a while?”

Shadow froze. He was never the first to get out of bed—so something was really wrong, and even though Vio would give him his space to a point, he was worried and this was something that needed to be addressed. “Alright.” He let Vio tug him back into bed.

Vio ran a hand through his hair. “You’re always so pretty when you sleep,” Vio said. Shadow let him pull him closer and relaxed into the grip, his own arms slowly moving to wrap around Vio. “I’m sure the others won’t mind if we stay in here for the morning. We didn’t plan on doing much today.”

Vio let go briefly to search in the drawer of the bedside table. He felt Shadow peer over his shoulder before settling back on the bed. Vio turned back around with a nail file in his hands. “Can you let me see?” He asked.

Shadow blinked and slowly gave him his hand. “Your nails are so sharp,” Vio said. “Like claws.” He started filing them down. “Are we gonna talk about it?”

”Nah,” Shadow responded. “I’d rather sit here and stare into your eyes in stone cold silence while your arm drips blood on the bed.”

Vio smiled. “It’s literally a drop—since when have you been squeamish?” Shadow smiled back—he looked exhausted. “Come on. You’re not acting like yourself. Tell me what’s wrong.”

”Nightmare,” Shadow said. His voice was quieter than usual and his face was the slightest bit flushed from embarrassment. “That’s it.”

“So... a bad dream you didn’t have yet was bothering you last night?”

Shadow shrugged. This was a matter of patience, and Vio had lots of it.

”I won’t judge, you know,” Vio said. He moved onto the next fingernail. Shadow squirmed uncomfortably. “I’m worried, Shadow.”

There was a pause. “...Did I ever apologize?” Shadow asks. Vio looked up from his hand at him. “For the whole... trying to kill you thing? I mean, I tried to kill a lot of people, but you specifically.” Shadow visibly swallowed. “Because... I... Vio, I...”

Vio didn’t hear Shadow’s voice break often. He set down the nail file and pulled Shadow closer. “Shh... It’s okay...”

”...I regret it...” Shadow whispered and Vio pulled him even closer. “I do... I really regret it...I’m sorry.”

”Shadow,” Vio said, softly. “That was one of the first things you said to me. It’s okay, I’ve already forgiven you, love.” Shadow hugged him tightly. “Remember? We both apologized to each other and decided we couldn’t really hold it against the other because we love each other so much? And we decided we would take the necessary steps to forgive each other and trust each other again.” He pressed a kiss to his temple and slowly Shadow retracted from his grasp. Vio went back to filing his nails. “Tell me about these nightmares.”

Shadow shrugs. “I... find you. By the Dark Mirror.” Vio’s getting close to finishing the hand. Shadow’s speaking slowly, like he’s considering every word. “And I try to stop you, but you already smash it. And you just stand over me... And laugh.” He takes a deep breath. “And I feel like I deserve it, but I wake up angry and all I can do is lay there and sometimes I think I’m dead, but then you’re there. And I never know what I’m feeling.”

”I’m sorry.” Vio moves onto the next room. “I think that’s okay though.”

”How would any of that be okay?” Shadow asked. “Did you miss the part where I said I wake up angry? Vio... I wake up angry at you.”

”That’s okay,” Vio said. “I think...” He thought for a moment just about what he thought. “I think we can’t control our emotions. I think the best possible thing we can do is control how we react to them.” Shadow’s other hand drummed against his thigh. “You say you were angry, but you didn’t do anything because of that anger. You didn’t lash out at me. You didn’t insult me or hit me or anything. So I think you have a better grasp on your anger then you’re making it sound.” He moved onto the next. “And you don’t have to be ashamed of feeling angry... Or feeling guilty. Maybe we just need to find a good outlet for you.” He kept filing away. “How long has this been a problem?”

”About a week,” Shadow admitted. “...I didn’t want to tell you.”

”Shadow, love,” he said, trying to keep his tone gentle. “You can tell me anything.”

”I thought we moved past this.”

Vio wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so he thought it over—but Shadow continued. “I mean, it took me so long to finally decide I had to forgive you. Like—months, Vio. Remember how awkward that was? It took so long, and then finally, I wasn’t thinking about the fire temple every minute of the day, and... I just... was so happy that finally, the fire temple wasn’t the entirety of our relationship. So, when I thought of you, I didn’t always think about...” He groaned and almost moved back, almost tearing his hand away from Vio’s. “I thought we were finally past this.”

”Well...” Vio slowed for a minute, trying to think. “Has there been anything that’s reminded you of it?”

”I... ...Just a small nightmare, but I could barely remember it... And then I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

”If it makes you feel any better,” Vio told him. “Then I should tell you I have nightmares too.”

Shadow squirmed again. Vio was almost finished. “Really?” Shadow asked.

”Yeah. Not very often, but that just makes them worse, because you never know what’s gonna happen, and then—all of a sudden, I’m asleep next you, but I’m prying myself out of your arms... and leaving... stumbling around in darkness, barely aware of what I’m doing and all I feel is guilt.” He worked on Shadow’s last finger and laced their fingers together. “I don’t like it. It makes me think I’m hurting you. And then I wake up, and you still have your arms around me, and I wonder if I’m supposed to pull away.” He squeezed Shadow’s hand. “You’re really cuddly when you sleep and it’s adorable.” That last sentence had little to do with anything they were talking about, but he found it worth mentioning, regardless.

“I thought for sure,” Shadow said, voice dry. “If I told you, you’d be annoyed or something.”

”No. I’m a sucker for you, I don’t like seeing you upset like this.” It was not annoyed, he felt only concern and love that might have just been unconditional. He went back to the drawer. “What color?”

”What?”

”What color?”

”So, you’re just doing my nails now?”

”Yes. What color?”

He sighed. “Purple.”

Vio grabbed a bottle of nail polish. “Give.”

“I love you,” Shadow said. “A lot.”

”I love you too.” Vio smiled. “How do your nails get so long?”

”I don’t know—don’t yours grow?”

”Yeah, but not like yours.” He unscrewed the top and took the brush to his forefinger. “Yours is like... a cat’s.”

”Because I’m cute?”

”Or a wolverine.”

Shadow paused. “...Are wolverines cute?”

Vio shrugged. “They look like tiny, misshapen bears.” He realized this was probably not the right answer. “But you’re cute.”

”...Thanks, Vi.” A minute passed. “You’re absolutely horrible at painting nails, by the way.”

”No, I’m not. Look, I finished with your hand.”

”Yeah, and you only got half the nail polish on my nails. ...How did you get some on like, my palm?”

Vio leaned forward and pressed his mouth against Shadow’s. “I love you,” he murmured. “You and your wolverine, badly painted claws.”


End file.
